“Soon, we hope to liberate the entire surrounding areas of the dam, which generates electricity to large areas of Aleppo, Manbij and Kobani,” Colonel Silo added, noting that by liberating the dam, the three ISIS-held cities Raqqah, Manbij and Jarabulus have been cut off.

This offensive is well outside the range of artillery interdiction from Turkey and, thanks to the R+6 imposed Turkish no-fly zone, the Turks cannot provide air interdiction for their IS brethren. If the SDF pushes west towards Manbij and the R+6 pushes east from Aleppo, the question of Jarabulus becomes moot.

_ This almost looks like a US-Russian anti-ISIS coalition, doesn’t it? Russia’s Sputnik reports that the Russian air force provided air support to the SDF near Raqqa. They also supplied important indirect support to the Tishrin Dam operation because they’ve made it clear that even if Kurd’s crossing the Euphrates is Erdogan’s red line, if he tries to use his air force against the Kurds again to stop them, Turkish planes will be shot down if they enter Syrian airspace.

“With the support of the Russian aviation group, the Syrian Democratic Forces’ units… are conducting an offensive on the Daesh capital, the city of Raqqa.”

Iraqi Forces Reclaim Control of Ramadi

_ With American air support and the help of US special operations forces, the Iraqi army have retaken Ramadi from ISIS

Moderate Syrian Opposition Will be Represented by Appointed Prime Minister, According to Reports

_ Per Al Rai’s Elijah Magnier, a reliable source on the ground in Syria and Iraq, the United States and Russia have selected a new prime minister and have agreed that Assad may run for president in new elections, will be recognized as the legitimate government by the international community and will not be tried for war crimes. According to Magnier’s sources, a businessman from London will be appointed to the prime minister position as representation of the “moderate opposition”. This position will have two important roles: the writing of a new constitution and in the reconstruction of Syria. The U.S. said it needs some time to persuade various “rebel” groups to come together and fight against other groups who reject the ceasefire and reconciliation. Russia said that it will continue military operations against extremists who are still fighting during that time, even if it eliminates them all.

_ Despite the military operations against Kurdish civilians in the southeast, Kurdish groups held a two-day meeting and issued a statement calling for self-rule, something Erdogan said he would never allow.

“The rightful resistance mounted by our people against the policies that degrade the Kurdish problem, is essentially a demand and struggle for local self-governance and local democracy,” said the final resolution of the meeting, titled “declaration of political resolution regarding self-rule”.

The declaration called for the formation of autonomous regions including several neighboring provinces of Diyarbakir to take account of cultural, economic and geographic affinities.